DIY Peg Doll Maypole

 Hello, I'm so very excited to share this tutorial with you. Panda's birthday is coming and this year we are giving only handmade gifts to our boys. Panda loves his peg dolls and things that move. Mayday is coming and so the idea of a Maypole popped into my mind...

  But It Had To Move...

I used:

 a blank wood clock face (bought at a craft store and squirreled away years ago),

a thin circle of balsa craft wood

two wood wheels

a chopstick

ribbon

a circle of felt (not pictured)

and six rainbow colored plastic caps that fit the bottom of Panda's peg people.

(I had everything on hand except an orange and a purple cap.. Those I made Bear search High and low for much to his dismay.)

 First widen the holes on the wheels with a drill to make the chopstick fit. Then hot glue the chopstick and one wheel to the base. The wheel gives added stability to the pole. The green caps in the picture are just a hair taller than the wheel to help keep the second wood circle level for the next step. They are not glued down.

Next, drill a hole into the wood circle, slip it over the chopstick. and then glue the second wheel at the top of the chopstick. The wood circle should move freely. 

Hot glue the ribbons to the top of the wheel and around the side. I wanted to be sure they were firmly glued in so they would last through my boy's not so gentle play.

Pull the ribbon down and glue it just so there will be enough room to add the cap. It should be just taught enough that when the green caps are removed from underneath the wood circle does not rest on the wheel, but hangs freely.

see? The slack disappears once the cap is  glued on.

Almost done now.

Last of all I added a circle of felt to the bottom of the base to keep the wood from scuffing tables. 

SPIN!!

Ta DAH! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens this up. Let me know if you make one. or have some other Peg People ideas. I would love to hear about them in the comments below. 

Thanks for visiting.

Shine on!

VIDEO UPDATE 

Toddler Tuesday: Knights

Knights, one of Panda's favorite things. Last week one of his therapists suggested using knights as a motivator for him, and things have been working out rather well. Our sensory bin this week is a dish with water and water beads (I have been excitedly waiting for him to be old enough for these), and a scattering of knights. Panda loves  splashing and watching the beads bounce and scoot around in the water. When he is done with the bin it's his job to mop up the water.

While  Panda is playing with his bin, Badger gets to roll around this bottle . He loves watching the beads float and sparkle in the lights.

To start our day out, first Panda has too cut open envelopes to get to his knights. This was also suggested by his therapist. We will be getting a pair of Loop Scissors for smaller hands, but until then these work okay.

One of the things we focus on in life skills is learning how to dress himself. His therapist wanted to work on snaps with him. So I made these felt chains with snaps. So far he isn't interested, but I'm hoping as the week goes on his interest will perk up. Its also a great fine motor skill if he does find interest.

We are making shields. Panda's task is to trace shapes. I was going to have him cut them out, but cutting the envelopes at the start of the day seems to be enough for him for now.

When he is done with his shield we hang them up on this banner. It is going to look incredible when they are all filled up. I'm thinking about leaving it up as a birthday decoration.... And then maybe pulping the paper to make homemade paper. (seriously, I love these projects, but I think we will be murdering an entire forest before this subject is done).

We are also working on number recognition. Panda can count to 16, but his number recognition is a bit shaky. Still,  that's pretty impressive for 2 years old (he ain't 3 yet folks).

We're also working on letter recognition, I don't expect him to spell, but he has been picking up on letters lately. Each week we will choose one word and focus on what letters are in the word. This week (and next) we will focus on his name. The number and letter cards are leftovers from when our store closed. I'm glad we had a set of each left. They are thin balsa wood. sanded smooth and then words and letters were wood burned in.

We are also practicing for a knights tournament... I had to figure out a tie-in... At therapy his therapist has a log swing that she uses to help with vestibular and proprioceptive input. She rocks him side to side, and back and forth while he throws bean bags into a barrel (also great hand eye coordination). I took that and recreated it at home with what we had. Balancing on the exercise ball is great for his sensory diet, works on balance, building core muscles, and feeds his need for movement. Then he throws balls into a basket. Panda LOVES this activity....

And that is what we are up to this week. Next Tuesday I will let you know how things are going. I will also have a few other activities that there just wasn't time to prepare this week. Till then, 

~Shine on~

March 2016 photos

Where did March go? So many things happened. We added this new sweet ride to our family. It's not that Panda can't walk, it's more to keep him contained. He has developed an unhealthy habit of running off in parking lots and down the street. We're working on it, but for now this keeps him safe and keeps me from loosing my mind.

My Sweet Red Panda, this is the year where you start waking up and discovering that you are your own unique person. It has been a journey. 

Lately you have been refusing solid foods and have lost the ability to use silverware. The doctors say not to worry, but I retain the mother's right to do so (I should also mention so not to worry any one that we have several therapists working with us on these issues). You never were a big eater to start with and now you have fallen into the 23rd percentile weight for your height. Which is another point. You are two years old and the height of an average 4 or 5 year old. My skinny tall boy. Please start eating soon.

A tummy bug hit us right after Easter which did not help with your feeding issues one bit, but you seem to be pulling out of it. We met with a preschool teacher and saw your "classroom" for this fall. To say I am not impressed in an understatement. It's taking everything I have not to pull you from the program right now. The teacher started out by explaining to us that they take a regular preschool curriculum and "scale it waaay back". Seeing that academically you already surpass the needs of a basic preschool this bothers me to no end. However I do believe that you will learn better with people your own age around you...Hopefully I can come to grips with this soon and figure out what is truly best for you.

 

Your sense of adventure is amazing and will carry you far. It's not fair that you have to go through so many therapy's and that you are being forced into a public school this fall, but you seem to be taking it in stride. We will be adding more therapy into our regiments and you will be attending a day treatment center soon. It will be hard to let you go off on your own. My mother's voice screams that it is to early, but hopefully all this early intervention will help you in the long run.

Oh my Badger,  This was a month of firsts for you. First Saint Patrick's day, First Easter. First time really playing outside and swinging. You aren't to sure of the sun, but as soon as summer hits, I know you will love the grass....

First food, Oatmeal... I wanted to wait another month, but a spoonful before bed has been making you sleep so much better,

You are now rolling around the house with the greatest of ease and happily exploring your world. You will be crawling in no time the way you scoot around. And that smile... I have never known a baby to smile as often as you. What a lucky Mum I am to wake up to these toothless grins EVERY morning.

Five months. Where did the time go? You are now wearing 12 month and at times 18 months onsies. Though you can still wear several of your 0-3 month pants, you are now starting to wear 3-6 month  pants. My funny stubby legged baby. You may never win a track race, but you will go far. You steal the heart of everyone you meet.

So that was March. Plagued by sicknesses, overrun with appointments, and yet we're still here and still going strong. Life is a journey. I can't wait to see what April brings. 

~Shine on~

Easter Recap

Hello, I hope you all had a Happy Easter weekend. This post will serve as a recap of our weekend and our Toddler Tuesday for now. I will post "March Photos" of the boys later this week. Our bin was a simple bin with plastic eggs and spoons from the dollar store and  white beans. Panda liked stacking the egg shells, using them like cups, and stuffing beans into them to make noisemakers. A pretty good success.

Our Spring books made their annual debut along with our spring stuffed animals. Badger has been loving the butterfly. I don't have a photo, but another thing we have been working on is the word "Stop", so we have been hopping around like bunnies and using the words "stop" and "start". This will help him with words, and also hopefully keep him from running off in parking lots and into the street. 

We've been using these rainbow colored eggs for color matching games. Matching the shell halves together and also filling them with small color corresponding objects like cars and peg people and such.

Easter was a huge success. Panda received a homemade weighted therapy bunny and three peg people knights. Badger received a puzzle ball and bunny eared rattle/teether. Both of them also received some seeds for planting this summer. I made cookies and chocolates that were safe for Panda, but we kept that part small. Only one cookie and two pieces of chocolate. I don't think he felt cheated at all.

After spending  a lovely afternoon at my sister's house  we returned home for our wooden Easter egg hunt. This year Panda really got into hunting for the eggs and kept looking for them long after he found the last one. When he realized he wasn't going to find any more he started re-hiding them. It was a moment to cherish. I'm glad we started using wooden eggs a few years back instead of plastic ones. The thrill  for us is in the magic, wonder, and excitement of finding the eggs, not what is inside them. How did you celebrate? Did you celebrate? 

~Shine on~

Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Tomorrow is one of my favorite holidays, and while we've been busy I couldn't let it slip away without some fun activities. We've had three sensory bins these past two weeks. This one is split peas and a few peg dolls. It was also Panda's favorite tray.

Uncooked oatmeal, green sugar granules, with shamrock confetti pieces. Panda got a kick out of hunting and digging for the shamrocks.

Green mashed potatoes from dollar store instant potato flakes. I'm positive that this isn't food, but it was a lot of fun to play with.

Our book basket this month.

We tried making cork shamrock stamps, but this activity was frustrating for both of us. The stamps kept shifting so we had to give it up.

and instead we made leprechaun coins from bottle caps. This was an exercise in following directions and it worked out pretty well. First he had to dip them in the glue, then the glitter, and then put them on the sheet to dry..

 

 We counted  green coins and put them into our pot of gold (tea light holder).

 

 and had yummy treats 

 Lots of yummy treats... I will have to post this recipe later. I finally invented a good cookie cutter cookie that is safe for Panda (egg, dairy, and Gluten free).

 Even our mystery jar got into the holiday spirit. This is a newer therapy tool we have been using. Panda can't unscrew this lid on his own, so in order to get one of the objects out to play with, he has to say "open" and what object he wants. It has been a wonderful tool to help draw more words out of him. I'm sorry I've been away so much. Therapy has taken over our lives. I'm not sure when things will calm down, but it sure felt good to sneak away this morning

. Take care, happy Saint Patrick's day, and shine on!

February 2016 Pictures

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
  

My beautiful Boys. I should be sleeping, but this year I want to be sure to capture your monthly pictures. February was a nightmare of constant appointments and this is the only time I can find to post these pictures. We still have appointments nearly every day and are on the road more often that I would like, but we are figuring out our new "normal" and Panda is getting the help he needs. This has been a rough one on you Bud. We will get through it. Thank you for bearing with us. And Badger, thank you so much for your light. Even on the roughest days you continue to smile and greet each day with a belly chuckle. Never have I known a more contented baby. You both continue to help us shine even when our lights are low. Thank you for choosing our family. I have a feeling that the two of you are going to be an unstoppable team.

Shine on.

Love,

~Mum~